Mario Camerini’s relatively unknown Il brigante Musolino (US: Outlaw Girl) defies categorization: it’s a crime film with plenty of noir style, but it has elements of a gangster film, a prison break film, a courtroom drama, a romantic melodrama, and most definitely a Western, despite its setting in contemporaneous Calibria. Giuseppe Musolino (the under-appreciated Amadeo Nazzari) is convicted of murdering Don Pietro Solemi (Guido Morisi), his rival for the affections of Mara (Silvana Mangano), by the testimony of three false witnesses. After serving two years of his 21-year sentence, Musolino manages to escape, reunite with Mara, and exact his revenge. Nazzari plays Musolino cool and confident, his false imprisonment having apparently served as license to embrace his violent criminal instincts, in one case boldly dispatching his enemy in the midst of a religious procession. Camerini deftly moves from chapter to chapter in Musolino’s dramatic story, including his being shot by the police, saved by a shepherd, and hidden in a hay loft. Another highlight: look for the fugitive’s extraordinary escape from a barn surrounded by police — it involves fire and a stampede.